"We Put No Stumbling Block in Anyone's Path"

I was at the hospital today with my mother and I was reading through 2 Corinthians when I found the most amazing passage ever! I think it is so awesome!

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonment and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything." 2 Corinthians 6:3-10

I wanted to memorize this verse so I wrote it down in my journal and I was super excited just to think about all of these things that Paul is talking about.

"We put no stumbling block in anyone's path so that our ministry will not be discredited" This verse really hits home for me because I am super sensitive to the way I conduct myself so that I don't stumble non-believers. Obviously there are many times that I fail in this manner and stumble people on the way that I conduct myself but I really do think it is so important not to act in a way that stumbles not only non-believers but other Christians. I remember Adam Poole telling our class that his father was stumbled from coming to the Lord for so long because of the conduct of Christians that he had interacted with. When I heard that it saddened my heart because I realized just how important our actions are in showing that we are walking with God and not simply claiming to be Christians while still living wordly lives. 

We are to be set apart! And I like that Paul says, they put no stumbling block in anyone's path so that their ministry wont be discredited. Discredited means to injure the reputation of, defame, to show to be undeserving of trust or belief, destroy confidence in. That's so intense! Wouldn't that be so sad if the way that we conducted ourselves caused someone to loose confidence in a transformed life in Christ. 

"Rather, as servants of God we should commend ourselves in every way" Instead of putting up stumbling blocks with our conduct Paul says that we should commend ourselves in every way. The word commend means to present, mention, or praise as worthy of confidence. So instead of being stumbling blocks that cause people to distrust the ministry we need to live lives that show that it is worthy of confidence!

Then Paul starts to list off ways that we should present that our ministry is worthy of confidence. Really just think about what each one means or what it looks like:

"in great endurance;" - We show ourselves commendable when we have great endurance.

"in troubles, hardships and distresses;" - I think it's cool that right after great endurance Paul talks about showing ourselves commendable in troubles, hardships and distresses. How we handle the hard things in life is very important, and I think that great endurance is one way that we can show ourselves commendable through the tough seasons in life. James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

"in beatings, imprisonments and riots;"  - In beatings and imprisonments and riots we're supposed to show ourselves commendable? I haven't suffered through any physical persecution in the time I've been a Christian but I think that it would be extremely hard to remain commendable during beatings and imprisonments and riots. Something that has always struck me in the book of Acts is Acts 5:40-41 "...They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." That's so powerful because they were able to rejoice even after being flogged! Man, how that glorifies God when we can be persecuted and rejoice!

  

"in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;" - This verse hits home because we show ourselves commendable by working hard! We aren't called to mooch off of people or to be lazy and slack off, we're called to be hard workers. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." And there are also many proverbs that speak about being a diligent hard worker and not slothful or lazy.

"in purity, understanding, patience and kindness;" - I love how Paul changes from the more negative aspects of the Christian life, like the fact that we'll go through trials and persecutions, and turns to the more positive aspects. We need to be pure, understanding, patient and kind. This reminds me of the attributes of love, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs" (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). And these four ways that we're supposed to commend ourselves also remind me of Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."

"in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;" - I think this could be my favorite part of this passage because it's seems so plain that the way to be commendable is by walking in the Spirit! In our own flesh and our own self-will we cannot accomplish living a life that is characterized by these things it is only through a life lived walking in the Spirit. And then I like how it goes on to say that it's also in sincere love. Not just love because love can definitely be fake but in true, genuine, sincere love!

"in truthful speech and in the power of God;" - Don't lie. We all know that but it's easy to forget or just ignore sometimes, however God calls us to be honest people. In order to not stumble people we need to commend ourselves in every way including truthful speech. And then in the power of God! This is another awesome portion of this scripture because it is a fact that without the power of God we cannot walk out a godly life. It's all in God's power that He gives to us to walk in this way! That's so awesome! "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" (2 Peter 1:3-4).

"with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;" - I like this because the Christian life is a battle and to know that we are using weapons of righteousness and have them in both hands that shows that we are prepared for the battle. It reminds me of Ephesians 6:11-17 "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces if evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

"through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report" - No matter what the situation be it to our glory or dishonor we are supposed to conduct ourselves in proper manner that shows that what we believe in is worthy of confidence, no matter the circumstance.

"genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown;" - To regard means to look upon or think of with a particular feeling. In this that means that our conduct is genuine but people look at it us being impostors, like we aren't genuine. And the same with being known you people seeing us as unknown. I feel like I can relate to this section because of different things that I've experienced but even when we are being genuine and others view us as impostors we are still supposed to maintain commendable conduct.

"dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet we are not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;" - I love that it says we are sorrowful but we're always rejoicing. Even though we do have sorrow and pain we also have so much hope in future glory and so though we mourn we can still rejoice. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope." This is our hope, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade -kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:3-5).

"poor, yet making many rich;" - I absolutely love how this part says that we're poor but we are making many rich! It's not material, worldly riches that we're giving to make people rich but it's the riches that come from God! The great inheritance that we have through Christ! That's just so awesome! I love it!!

"having nothing, and yet possessing everything." - And I love this part that says we have nothing but we possess everything. This is so true! Though it seems like in this world we might have nothing we really do have everything because we have God and He is all we really need. He is everything!

Pondering Song Lyrics

One of my favorite things to do is listen to song lyrics! I love when the lyrics are super powerful and they always seem to put to words exactly what I've been feeling or they make me think about things in a brand new way! One song that I have listened to that has particularly impacted me is "They Need Love" by Jonny Diaz. One verse of the song is, "If she doesn't somehow catch an eye, she'll sleep out in the cold tonight. So she works the corner with fishnets on just blocks away from the house of God. She claims she'll never go inside she doesn't think that it would feel right. But what if we stepped out to her, with love that she didn't have to earn. She needs love and lots of it before she'll ever open up. She needs grace from God above but from us she needs love."

This is so powerful! It's talking about a prostitute who's thought about entering the house of God but ended up not doing so because she doesn't think that it will suit her. The thing that hits me the hardest is when it says "but what if we stepped out to her?"... What if we stepped out to her?! How many people are out there hurting and searching for love who would receive it if we merely stepped out to them! It's so mind blowing because I look at my life and how I can stay in my comfortable little bubble of happiness and bliss, fellowshipring with believers and only breaching the gap with my family and friends that I am comfortable with and who are familiar to me. But what about the others? What about the poor, the hurting, the lost?! What about the homeless, the prostitutes, the crippled, the unlovable?! What about them?

How my heart breaks for those people who are so lost and without hope and without love desperate for it! In class we did an assignment where we read Mark 5:21-34, the story about the sick woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and was healed by Jesus. While we were going over it we discussed the position this woman was in. First off she was a woman and in that time period women were not favored highly. Secondly she was unclean because of her bleeding and therefore was looked at with disgust and no one would touch her or go near her... For twelve years! How do you think this woman was feeling at this point? She was desperate for healing physically and emotionally.

When she touched Jesus' cloak she was healed and Jesus knowing he'd healed her wanted to see her. It says, "But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering" (Mark 5:32-34). The amazing thing about this especially for the woman was that Jesus listened to her! She told him the whole story and he paid attention to her. This woman who had been scorned for twelve years was experiencing Jesus' love for her.

After all of those years she had to have been thinking that she was the scum of the earth because everyone treated her as if she was. But not Jesus. He loved on her. Tom Ewers said that Jesus probably even knelt down and looked her straight in the eyes as she was on the ground trembling in fear telling her story. He looked at her with love and compassion. He showed her that she was more valuable than she herself thought and he called her daughter.I can't even begin to imagine what it would feel like, to be ridiculed and scorned for twelve years and then loved for the first time.

We have that power!

We have the power to love people like that! Think how many people are hurting in this world. How many people feel like they are nothing. How many people are lonely and dying for a friend. How many people are overwhelmed. How many people are overcome with emotion. How many people are desperate for truth and genuine love.

How many people think that no one would care if they didn't exist.

How many people commit suicide because they have. no. hope.

But there is hope!

Think about the hope that we have! Our hope in Jesus Christ in God in our salvation and future eternal glory! Our hope in the love that the Father has for us! Why would we keep that to ourselves?!

People are dying without hope. How is it that someone can be so completely without hope that they would kill themselves?! That is so heartbreaking to even think about! Especially since we have such a glorious hope in God and His love for us! We need to proclaim that hope to all people!

I know first hand that it is so easy to hide pain. It's so easy to put up a mask and pretend to be happy when really your heart is breaking inside. When you laugh with people on the outside but on the inside you're weeping in agonizing pain only wishing that someone would understand or even notice that your life is crumbling.

One of my hearts desires is that I could have eyes to see the pain that people cover up. How awesome would it be to have the discernment to see someone who is dying on the inside and be able to reach out to them and love on them! What would that do for them?! Don't you want to be the kind of person that loves with all your heart?! Don't you want to be the kind of person that could radically change a persons life with love?! I can't even put to words all that is on my heart with this matter it's just so hard to express!!

There are so  many people hurting and often times we never come into contact with them because they are too afraid to come to us or because they buy the lie that it's not for them! But what if we stepped out to them?! What if we went to them and showed them love?! If we have such an amazing love and hope why are we keeping it all to ourselves?! Why do I keep it to myself?! Why don't I tell people about how much God loves them?! Why do I let fear control my words when I have the Spirit of God living in me?!

We need to step out to those people! We need to love them because no one else will. And we need to love them because God loves them. Because God died for them. They need to know that.

Only One Did That For Me

I was working and listening to the radio the other day and I heard the song "How Many Kings" by Downhere and I absolutely loved the lyrics! It's amazing because it talks about who Jesus is and how he gave up all of his royalty and power to become a human and weak for me, for you, for us! It's just so unbelievably incredible to realize that, and to truly think about all that Jesus did for us so that we could have freedom!

Here are the lyrics: 
 

Follow the star to a place unexpected 
Would you believe, after all we've projected, 
A child in a manger? 
Lowly and small, the weakest of all  
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother's shawl - 
Just a child - 
Is this who we've waited for?

How many kings step down from their thrones? 
How many lords have abandoned their homes? 
 How many greats have become the least for me? 
And how many gods have poured out their hearts 
To romance a world that is torn all apart 
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior 
All that we have, whether costly or meek 
Because we believe. 
Gold for his honor, and frankincense for his pleasure 
And myrrh for the cross he will suffer 
Do you believe?  
Is this who we've waited for?

How many kings step down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Only one did that for me. 

All for me... 
All for you... 

Here's the song if you want to listen to it!
 

The Heart of Worship

This weekend I was blessed enough to be able to go on the second annual beach retreat with my small group girls! It was such an amazingly blessed time! One of the things that I love the most was our worship sessions that we had throughout the weekend! Eva brought all of her instruments which included her guitar, djembe, egg shaker, and tambourine. All six of us got to worship the Lord with instruments and singing in all sorts of places: In the car, walking down the street, in the living room of the beach house, in the hot tub, on the seashore, in the crashing waves, in the morning, in the middle of the day, at sunset, in the dead of night. I thoroughly enjoyed how worship was the center of our retreat.

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{Eva taught me how to play the Djembe and now I want one of my own! Or a cajon... I like playing the drums so I think that is going to be my next big adventure!}

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I love these girls! For two years we've been in a small group together and on the last night of our retreat we shared with one another some of the ways that God has matured us these past two years. One of the biggest things I came away with was just the awe-struck-ness (yes, I made up a word) of how awesome God is and how apparent it was that He wanted us all to come together and be friends! It blows my mind how He worked to bring us together and there is no doubt in my mind that this was what He wanted.

It's crazy to think that next year is going to look so different than this year! I'm hoping to be a small group leader next year, and maybe Alexis and Eva too! Julia and Tera are graduating from OSU and on to the "real world" or wherever God leads them be it School of Ministry (cross your fingers!) or the work-force, and then Ali is going to be in nursing school! Our lives are going to be different but we'll still be friends! God used these two years to grow us up in radical ways preparing us for what's to come and I know that we're going to be ready to embrace whatever He throws at us!

Sisters in Christ! Friends Forever!

Are you worthy?

These past three weeks I have been blessed to be able to go out onto the OSU campus and evangelize with different people and it has been an amazing growing experience. I used to always desire to share the gospel with people but I never knew how to and I was fearful that I would do it wrong somehow and make it so that whomever I talked to ended up turning away from and rejecting God forever. I think the thing that I needed most was just to have someone instruct me on what one form of evangelization looks like. Im the kind of person who wont do something until I have an idea of what Im supposed to do because I fear that I'll do it wrong. I just needed instruction! Lucky for me on the first day back to school from Spring Break Dan Nelson came into our class and taught on evangelization. Just the thing I needed!

God has been teaching me so much since I've been sharing the gospel on campus and one of the biggest things He's been showing me is humility. Not really something that I enjoy learning about but definitely something that is so good to learn. Last Wednesday Tasha, Michelle and I went out onto campus without any materials to use to aid in preaching the gospel. The first few times I talked with people I used a survey as the ice breaker and then the "Four Spiritual Laws" booklet to help me stay on track when sharing the gospel. This last time however we had nothing to help us and we had nothing to use as an ice breaker. If you're introverted and intimidated like I can be then you'd probably be just as terrified as I was knowing I had to do it without any help. But was I really without help? Nope, thankfully Jesus left us with the Holy Spirit as our Counselor!

To be completely honest I didn't even get far enough to share the gospel when talking to different students on campus. I did however get laughed at by two girls and had to endure people looking at me like I was insane. It was humbling to have an understanding of what those people were thinking about me because not too long ago I had been a nonbeliever who mocked Christians and Evangelists thinking that they were off of their rocker. I knew what they were thinking; and hearing the shrill laughter surround the Library Quad as Tasha and I walked away from our attempt at sharing the Truth with two girls, that was humbling. As I was reading through 1 Corinthians I found comfort in what Paul wrote about the Spirit of God and His role in discerning truth. Paul wrote, "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught be the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 12-14). The reason for why those who are without the Spirit of God do not understand the Word of God, and why they don't accept it. Remembering this it is much easier to shrug off the crazy looks I can get from people while speaking Truth to them and it also gives me more sensitivity and compassion for those who call the gospel foolishness. They cannot discern the spiritual things because they are without the Spirit of God.

I had started to beat myself up over what I had and had not said to those girls when Tasha promptly gave me a verbal slap in the face that was much needed. It's not about what I say or how I look while I say it, rather it's about God's glory. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again because it is so true, it's always important to remember that this life is about glorifying God even if that means making myself look like a fool! Only after my poor, poor selfish ego had licked its wounds, I was able to realize that I should be rejoicing because I was laughed at!

"The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name."   Acts 5:41

I never before understood how anyone could rejoice because they had suffered disgrace. I wanted to so badly to be able to rejoice but I never thought that I could. Only after I had been laughed at did I understand better what that meant. It is so amazing to realize that you've been counted worthy to suffer disgrace! Praise Jesus when you're persecuted! You're counted worthy! I think I remember someone saying that once they go for a while without facing any persecution they begin to wonder what's wrong because living in this world following Jesus Christ you will  be persecuted and mocked and spit on. Jesus was. He even said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they 
persecuted the prophets who were before you."  Matthew 5: 10-12. Don't you want to live a life so completely sold out to Jesus that you are counted worthy to be persecuted for His Name?! I don't mean that we go searching for persecution but it's because our lives are so different from what the world says is "normal".

The most important thing to remember also is that it's not our job to save people, that's God's job. It's not our responsibility to change hearts, I think Ryan said that the thing that we're called to is faithfulness and obedience. We're blessed enough to be used by God in order to most clearly preach the gospel but it's God's job to save. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe- as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." (1 Corinthians 3:5-7) I love how Paul writes that neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God! Somehow it is so comforting and wonderful to know that I am nothing and that the work is all on God's shoulders! It takes such a weight off knowing that it's God's job. And it's great to realize that the Holy Spirit is already working on peoples hearts and it's His job to convict people and pursue people. Again, we're just called to be obedient and speak the words of truth.

I also love how in 1 Corinthians Paul shows just how inadequate he was at preaching the gospel to the Corinthians. He said, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you in the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). In our weakness God is glorified. When we're preaching the gospel it's not so that we can look wise and it has nothing to do with how persuasive we are with our argument for Christ. We don't need to defend God. We're not selling a product, we're speaking the truth. Paul went to them with fear and trembling and in his weakness and God's power was demonstrated. God's looking for people who are willing to go out for him, not because they're wise and persuasive but because they're willing to be used amidst their inadequacies so that God can receive glory!

It is definitely clear to me that by stepping out in faith and stepping out of my comfort zone God meets me where I'm at. That's one thing God has been teaching me these past few weeks, if I make one step forward He'll meet me. As far as I can go He'll go the rest of the way but I need to put some effort into acting on what He's called me to do. We're not called to be passive Christians but to actively pursue a life of righteousness and actively live lives sold out for the Lord.

A man named Gary came into our class last week and he was talking about his ministry over in Europe. One of the things that he said that really stuck with me was, what are you willing to endure for a soul? How much are you willing to suffer being laughed at or made fun of in order to save a soul? Would you be willing to be laughed at, spit on, and mocked 50 times? Would it be worth it all if the 51st person you talked to wanted to accept Christ?

Paul said that on the Day when all things will be brought to light the work of each man will be shown for what it is, "and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). We only get one chance at this life and our days are numbered. What are you going to live them for? What are you going to build while you're on this earth? Will you build that which perishes in the fire or will you build what survives the fire, the imperishable? What are you willing to endure for a soul? How much is too much? What are you willing to sacrifice? Is it worth it to be laughed at 50 times if the 51st person is saved?

Florida, Spring Break 2010

This Spring Break I was blessed to be able to spend 10 days in Florida with my mom and dad and we had a LOT of fun! We went to the Everglades, the Florida Keys, and then we ended in Orlando and went to Disney World for two days! It was a lot of fun and I went to a lot of places that I have never been before! It was great!

It was windy and cloudy our first day there but that was okay because it was still warmer than Oregon weather! The everglades were pretty cool we saw lost of alligators and birds and turtles and we even saw a crocodile but no panthers. It was quite exciting! The entire time though we were afraid that we would have a run in with a burmese python or a monator lizard which are alien species in Florida and they have run-ins with humans which I was not excited about but, praise the Lord, we never saw one!

We went on an airboat ride and I got to drive... that was interesting I managed to spin us around 360 degrees hahaha cause I'm an awesome driver like that ;) Our captain, Captain Jearl (funny name huh?) fed an alligator from the side of the boat, that was scary! The gator was jumping up trying to get fish out of his hand... not something you get to see every day in the wild! It was a lot of fun!

After the everglades we went to the Florida Keys which was sunny and beachy and I really enjoyed it! I didn't particularly enjoy Key West (on Duvall Stree) simply because there was a lot of drinking and partying and just lots of immoral things and that was unfortunate but we took a day trip to Dry Tortugas and that was a lot of fun! (Can you tell I had fun?!) We toured the giant fort which is the second largest brick structure in the world,  second behind the Great Wall of China.

After the Keys we drove back up and stayed in Miami for a night before going to Orlando. In Miami my dad got in trouble, by my mom, for draving like a mad man! haha That was funny... It was a short stay and then we went to Disney World!

I was excited for Disney World because we were staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge! My mom got a really discounted price otherwise there is no way we would ever be able to afford to stay there... It's African themed and we were lucky enough to have a free upgrade to a Savannah view where we could watch the animals roaming around from our hotel room! I thoroughly enjoyed that! Nothing like waking up and looking at Giraffes and antelopes!

Our last night in Florida the thunderstorms started rolling in and while my family and I were making our way from the park to our car aboard the ferry the rain started pouring down! Then the wind picked up, the lightning flashed across the sky and our ferry almost tipped over. I didn't know that until later my dad told me how close we were to capsizing, I was too enthralled with a large group of band kids who were at the park (I think there was a competition going on somewhere because there were TONS of high school bands roaming around). At this particular moment they all started dramatically screaming and, no joke, it was like the scene right out of "War of the Worlds" when everyone is panicking on the ferry boat! It amused me. Unfortunately it was raining super hard and within seconds of running towards our car we were drenched. It was a memorable moment though and luckily the next day the storm had ceased and our flight home was wonderfully smooth (I hate flying so that was good).

For a long time before I left on my Spring Break vacation I had been praying about my fear of flying. I know that fear is not from God and I also knew that if I asked and believed that God could take away that fear. It was really cool because I just felt at ease on the flight to Florida and I knew that God had calmed my nerves! On the way back I had started to worry again and it was awesome because I was trying to calm myself and then the Lord brought this verse to my mind Matthew 6:27 "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" That was exactly what I needed at the moment in time and I am so greatful for that!

Why do we worry?! It's so pointless! God has a plan for us and nothing is out of His control and if we trust Him then we shouldn't worry because we know that we're safe in His arms (like the Phil Wickham song! -- You can bet I listened to that a couple of times on the flight) the other verse that kept coming to my mind Psalm 139:7-10 "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." There is no place we can go where God isn't there! That was so comforting to me!

I also found comfort in the Evan Wickham song, "Heavenlies"  because it made me remember that there is no reason for me to worry because even if the plane happened to crash and I burned I'd be going to see Jesus and as the songs chorus goes "I'm living for the Heavenlies when all of you is all I see" that's what Im living for! No need to worry! :)

During my vacation I also meditated on the verse from 1 Peter 5:10 "And the God of all grace, who called you to eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." This was a particularly impacting verse because it's important to remember that even amidst suffering God is still with us! He is waiting and after a little while He Himself will restore us! It's so comforting to remember when you're going through trials! Praise Jesus!

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New Beginning

I started up again cause Alexis and Eva have blogs and I decided that I should continue mine! :)

I have LOTS I could write about but alas Im heading off to Florida very soon so I will save that for later. I guess now I'll just say Im digging this song right now:

I guess also a topic I feel led to write about is prayer. What about prayer?! Do you pray?! Do you know the power that you have with prayer?!... What do you pray about?!

The other day I was reading through my missions book and I came upon a passage that really stuck out to me. It was discussing Nehemiah and his passion for prayer it said:

"The passion of his [Nehemiah's] prayer is even more important than his petition. Three aspects of his passion in prayer worth noting are:

• Zeal for the glory of God
• love for his people
• counting his own life as nothing

Nehemiah reminded God of His promise to gather His people from all over the world to worship His name openly (Nehemiah 1:8-9). Zeal for the glory and name of Jesus should also be our motivation. For how many of us is this true? Do we pray for the glory of God's name, or do we pray only for ourselves?"


I was super convicted when I read the last part of this passage because I realized that a lot of times my prayers are so self-centered! I'm always asking God for direction in my life, for the furtherance of my dreams and my desires and my passions but I forget sometimes to think about God and His dreams and His passions and His desires! I want my life to glorify God and I always ask God for that when I pray but even amongst that I feel that I could definitely pray more for God's glory.

I have had a strong desire placed on my heart to pray for the glory of God's name! What does that look like? I'm not 100% sure but I know that a way to start is by setting aside prayer times to pray for the furtherance of God's kingdom in the city I live in, on the college campus in my town, in the hearts of the believers at my church, for Christian organizations who're being the hands and feet of Jesus, for missionaries throughout the world who are working for God's kingdom and sacrificing their lives for God's name every day! There are lots of things that you can pray for when you start to look on a larger scale rather than me, myself and I.

Maybe the reason why I don't pray that often on a bigger scale for God's name to be glorified is because it's so hard to grasp just how effective our prayers are! Prayer is so powerful and it is so important to be constantly covering people in prayer believing that your prayers will be answered! Not just praying for yourself but for people around you! Your brothers and sisters in Christ! Your elders, pastors, leaders, friends! Even your enemies and adversaries! Whoever it might be praying for others and for the glory of God's name is a wonderful thing! It's amazing to see the fruit of those prayers as well. You may not think that your prayers are really helping, but they are. You never know when someone is in desperate need of a touch from the Father and maybe your asking is just the thing that gives the answer they so desire.

On this note, if you feel like praying for an organization I would recommend the Options Pregnancy Resource Centers. A couple of weeks back I got a flier in my church bulletin for this organization.

"Every pregnant teen, every unborn child, every broken woman with an abortion in her past, every frightened kid who finds out he's a father is loved by the Creator. Each one has inestimable value and needs to know the love and mercy of Jesus Christ."

Options Pregnancy Resource Centers 
"our desire is to be His [Jesus'] hands and feet to all who come through our doors. We reach out to those in need offering free pregnancy test and ultrasounds. We provide accurate information about pregnancy options, support and community referrals."

The man who talked about this organization said that covering the center in prayer is very important especially for the interactions at the counseling sessions. Pray for the counselors who are speaking with the women and also for the women who are getting counseling. Pray in the power that Jesus gives us knowing that when we ask in his name it will be answered. Maybe even now for five minutes (or more if you want) pray selflessly for the glory of God's name and for anyone else that God may put on your mind! :)